neverplaysfair | Game 050 [Voice/Action]

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Game 050 [Voice/Action]

[ While leaving out a mug of coffee, mostly-filled, might seem to be a weird thing to do in remembrance, regardless it's what Joshua does as he goes about cleaning the downstairs floor of his house, the space previously known as Kat's Kradle.

Without any real reason to keep more than the cooking area clean, he hadn't. Dust coats many of the tables and forms sometimes-impressive piles in the corners. Today, despite the rain, Joshua has the front door of House 38 wide open, and he can occasionally be seen sweeping piles of dirt outside.

It's rather cold, but Joshua doesn't seem to mind it. At least it's keeping him from working up a sweat. It's a bit late for a new year cleaning, but at least he's getting around to it at all, right?

Every so often he takes breaks to check on his journal, which he left the following question on earlier in the day: ]

How many of you learned things here that you're not looking forward to having to learn again when you go back to your own worlds? Your own death might be the obvious one, but I mean things like, say, some truth about your world, or friends, or family as well. Anything you'll need to find out again if you forget this place.

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If you say so. [ He's dealt with plenty of boners left hanging, thank you very much. Funny thing about them, they tend to go away on their own. ] But I suspect you didn't come over here just to chicken out of kissing me, either.

That wasn't me chickening out, trust me. And I already told you why I was here.

[Yeah I'm sure you're left with blue balls quite often. Sucks to be you.]

Yes, but you didn't tell me the why behind that.

[ Oh sure, mock his pain. ]

How about you give me an honest answer and I'll give you one.

Ask a question and we'll see.

There's no "we'll see".

I won't promise to answer just anything.

[ It's better than promising just to hear the question and going back on the promise if he doesn't want to reply. ]

Back in January, you know what whole incident where you had me knocked out for three days? [Which he's still pissed about, by the way.] You wouldn't tell me then what was going on. Either you tell me now or you're not getting an answer out of me.

Edited 2012-03-30 08:04 (UTC)

...

[ Joshua goes quiet, thinking. Considering. After a moment he turns and slowly walks back across the room to the table with the coffee mug on it. He stops next to it, fingers just brushing the table beside the mug, and stares blankly down into it.

If Hanekoma would come back, there's no reason to tell Neku. But he hasn't. Not for almost a year now.

If four months from now he still wasn't here, and Joshua wasn't back in Shibuya, he would probably have to tell Neku anyway. ]

[Neku doesn't say anything for a while, simply watching Joshua there quietly.

He sighs.]

...well, that's why I'm here checking on you. Even if you won't tell me what the hell was wrong, or even if something still is wrong. And the last time I talked to you we didn't exactly end on a good note, either. So I'm just making sure you're okay. But you probably won't even tell me that much.

[ ... He knows he shouldn't get close to Neku. But he's been here for over two years, and Neku is his most usable connection to Shibuya. He has three more New Feather cycles until his next withdrawal. It's not enough to put his hopes on.

Joshua raises his hand from the table and with a quick wave, the front door swings shut and locks. Keeping his back towards Neku, he starts unbuttoning his shirt. ]

[Neku just. stares. What are you doing.]

...Josh?

[ Stripping, clearly.

It isn't long before his shirt is open, and then Joshua lets it fall from his shoulders.

It's rather hard to miss it. The scars on his back are a dark red color, not recently agitated but still striking, and they reach all the way down to where they disappear beneath the waistband of his pants. ]

[BUT WHY ARE YOU STRIPPING—oh. Oh jeeze. That completely throws Neku off.]

Wha... what the hell?

At this point, I probably shouldn't even be alive.

[ His tone of voice is detached. ]

Mr. H said no one had ever survived past the point where I was, and it wasn't even this bad back then.

Well that's good right? I mean if you're still alive.

[But still, holy shit. Neku is fairly horrified right now.]

I'm still alive, yes. But by no means am I getting better.

[ He glances over his shoulder, as if to try to get a glance of the scars he can only see in the mirror. ]

...what will help?

Going back to Shibuya.

[...oh.]

They sent me back... maybe they'll send you back soon.

Four months.

[ He starts to pull his shirt back on. ]

July 17th. If I haven't gone back by then, it will happen again. Most likely, it'll be even worse.

Did... that help any? When I was there.

...

[ Joshua finishes buttoning his shirt up, and stares off into space. ]

Yes.

[ 'If you hadn't helped, I probably would have died then.' ]

If it comes to that again and you're not sent home, then... well. I'll do it again.

... It might kill you the next time.

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